The football market in Austria and Germany: a rough guide for young players

Our rough assessment for players who want to estimate their own chances. It is based on squad and playing-time data from our scouting database (as of autumn 2026) and on general football knowledge. All figures are deliberately rounded — they describe the market, not individual cases.

How many professional clubs there are

Germany: Bundesliga 18 clubs, 2. Bundesliga 18 clubs, 3. Liga 20 clubs
Austria: Bundesliga 12 clubs, 2. Liga 16 clubs
With squads of around 25–30 players, the top two divisions together offer roughly 1,000 squad places in Germany and roughly 700 in Austria

Where young players get minutes

In the top divisions of both countries, players under 21 get only around one in ten playing minutes
In the Austrian 2. Liga it is around one in three — partly because several big clubs field their second teams there. For young players it is the clearest springboard in the region
The typical age for a first professional appearance is around 20 in Austria and 21 in Germany
In the Austrian Bundesliga roughly one in five squad players is under 21; the median age is around 24

How open the market is to players from abroad

Roughly half of the players in the Austrian Bundesliga are not Austrian. The league is open to international players — and is used by many as a stepping stone.

National team players abroad

Austria: the large majority of the national team — roughly three in four players or more — play abroad, most of them in Germany
Germany: most national team players play in the Bundesliga; roughly a quarter to a third play abroad, mainly in England and Spain

For Austrian players, the path to the top usually leads through Germany; for German players, the Bundesliga itself is the top.

Clubs in European competitions

Germany usually has around seven clubs in the three UEFA club competitions each season. Regulars in recent years include Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart.
Austria usually has four to five clubs in the UEFA competitions including the qualifying rounds. Regulars in recent years include Red Bull Salzburg, Sturm Graz, Rapid Wien, LASK and Austria Wien.

What this means for a young player

Minutes matter more than the name of the league — a lower division with real playing time can be the faster way up
Around 20 is the typical age for a professional debut; there is time, but not unlimited time
Austria is an open, international market and a common route into the German Bundesliga
Scouts look at regular minutes — see how footballers get scouted

Limits of this assessment

The figures describe the players who are in professional squads today. Players who did not make it are not in the data, so they cannot be read as a success rate. They are rounded estimates, not official statistics.

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